Element Alchemist
by Mosaic Pain
Summary: Edward and Alphonse reunite with an old friend from Resembool that embarked on his own journey before Izumi came. He is always a step ahead of Ed, and he will stop at nothing to achieve his goal.
1. The Reunion

**A/N: **_This is the first fanfic I've written, so, go easy on me with the reviews._

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Fullmetal Alchemist, I would be the happiest guy on earth. But, I don't…

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**Chapter 1**

"Are you sure we're going the right way, Brother?" Al asked as they were walking across the desert under the hot sun.

"Why the hell are you asking me, you're the one with the map!" replied Ed, getting frustrated because of the heat.

"Well, we were supposed to be heading west when we left town," said Al, trying to get his brother to listen to him.

"Well, what direction are we heading, then?" Ed asked impatiently. They had been walking for an hour and thirteen minutes before this conversation came up.

"Um…we've been heading south," Al said, afraid to think what reply Ed would make.

"SOUTH?! We've been walking for and hour and a half in the WRONG DIRECTION?!" wailed Ed at the top of his lungs. At this time it was 2:17 p.m.

"But, Ed, whenever I tried to tell you, you would—" Al tried to predict what would happen if he finished he sentence, and just sighed. "Sorry, Brother."

Ed sighed. "Ah, it's all right. Everyone make mistakes sometimes," said Ed, totally oblivious to the fact that it's actually his fault.

Al sighed again. "Well, although we aren't going in the right direction, there seems to be a town to the east," he said.

Ed looked at his pocket watch that he got for being a State Alchemist, glanced at the sun, and started walking. Al was surprised he was actually walking in the right direction. They got there at around 3:10, and found the inn to be full, so they settled in an old abandoned house at the middle of town. Ed drank some orange juice, and read until 10:00 p.m., and went to bed. Al didn't need to sleep, so he just stared out the window until he got bored and continued reading the book Edward had lent him. By this time, he was on chapter 17: the purpose of alchemy.

The next morning, Edward woke up to Al shaking him. "Al, it's seven in the morning, what is it?" Ed asked. He was still tired from the walk yesterday, and was really wondering why he had woken him up.

"Brother, I think you should see who's here," Al said excitedly. Ed got up, and changed into his clothes before opening the door to see and old friend standing in front of the door way leaning back on the wall. He had a black jacket that looked like Edward's and black gloves too. He had the same boots, and was 2 feet taller than Ed. He had pitch-black hair that could barely be seen in the dark. He had the same skin tone as Ed as well.

The young man opened his cold black eyes, looked up and grinned. "Long time no see, buddy," he said. "…K-Ken?! Is that you?" Ed stood there shocked. He hadn't seen Ken since he had left Resembool to go do some kind of training. "Where the hell've you been? I mean, you left so long ago! I haven't seen you for ages!" Ed splurted out. "Well, seeing as we have some time, I guess we could talk about it," Ken said.

They talked for a while about what Ken has been doing for the past 3 years, what kind of training he did, and just about everything except the fact of Ed's auto mail and Al's soul bound armor. "I noticed that you were one of the only people who hadn't made a comment about Ed's height," Al whispered to Ken. "Heheh, ya, I can be like that," Ken replied.

"Hey, you want to spar like we used to in the old days?" Ken asked, they each won a somewhat equal amount whenever they sparred. "All right, we can do that," Ed grinned. They went outside to where there was a 6-foot tall stone wall surrounding the back yard. It was a big yard, if you're wondering. They walked out to the center of the yard and Ed and Al got into their regular stances while Ken just stood there looking slowly from Ed to Al and back with his cold eyes.

The fight started when Al kicked at Ed who dodged it with a back flip. Ed flew a punch at Ken who leaned to the left and grabbed his arm and threw him at Al, who fell over with the impact. Ed did a roll while Al pushed himself back up. Ed charged at Al who jumped up hoping that Ed would rush under, but didn't expect Ed to jump and kick him in the right arm. Al rolled, and ran toward Ken who ducked and tripped him as he was running. Ken looked up to see Ed falling with his left arm cocked back to punch, and was gaining momentum as he fell. Ken lifted up his right hand and grabbed Ed's fist. He pulled his arm back and punched Ed in the gut. He fell to the ground gagging, and nodded to Al as they agreed to team up on Ken like they used to back in Resembool. Al catapulted Edward into the air and rushed at Ken. Ken finally moved from his spot and jumped onto and off of Al's head and was flying toward Ed. Ed twisted his body like a tornado and tried to hit him with a right hook. But Ken had done a somersault in the air and kicked him as Ed punched empty air. They both fell back to the ground. Ed landed on Al, and Ken landed on his feet in front of them.

Ed grunted and said, "Man, you've…You've gotten better than you were back then," Ed recalled what Ken told him about the training he underwent. "I still can't believe that you had to fight and defeat seventeen martial arts champions. How many times did you have to fight them to finally win?" Ed asked. "Ugh…around…76 times, I don't remember," Ken stated. "76?! Man…that's a hell of a lot of fighting. But, it helped you get better than us, almost," Edward said. "You mean, you weren't fighting 100? Because, neither was I, obviously," Ken said, trying to intimidate them.

Ken stretched. "ungh…anyway. During our talk earlier, you kept something from me. As I from you. Al, your armour is empty, Ed, your right arm and left leg are auto mail," Ken said, looking at their shocked faces. "H-how d-did you find out?" Al stuttered. "Well, the sound of when I tripped you and when I jumped off of your head helped me figure out that you were hollow, and the sound of when you kicked Al let me know that your left leg was auto mail," Ken said. "What about my right arm?" Ed asked. "when you were falling from the jump that Al catapulted you into, I saw a glare from the sun on your arm," Ken said.

"What's the thing you kept from us?" Al asked. "Ohh… I guess it's about time I told you guys…like Ed, I have auto mail limbs," Ken stated. "You do?! Which ones?" Ed asked, stunned that they were alike in a way. "Unlike Ed, who has his right arm and left leg auto mail, I have my _left _arm and my _right_ leg auto mail. Kinda strange, huh? I thought I was the only one. Hahah," Ken told them. They just stared at him surprised and confused.

"Wait, wait, wait, how did you get them?" Ed asked, trying to figure out how they were so much alike. "Well, I'll tell you but only if you tel me about you guys' first," Ken said. It was only fair. "Geez, you always do that to us…fine, we'll tell you. We tried to...transmute our mother," Edward braced himself for a punch that would never come. "Huh? You're not gonna hit me? Well, I guess you aren't _exaclty_ like our teacher. She punched me when I told her," Ed admitted. Alphonse reminded him, "now it's your turn to tell us."

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**A/N:**_ Well, there you have it, the first chapter. Ed and Al might be a little out of character, though. Ken's cool, isn't he? Able to beat the Elrics is not common. Ken is entirely my own character, and felt that he should be put in a story. Just wait until the secrets he's held from the brother's in the next chapter. Maybe the one after that. Any ways, star the reviews!

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	2. We Need Some Answers

**A/N:**_ Well, this is the second chapter of my story, Element Alchemist. The last chapter was a little too short, but I'll try to change that here. And, I also only got one review for the last chapter, so, I hope I get some more this time.

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**Chapter 2**

"All right, I guess there's no escaping it. Like you two, I pushed my luck with trying human transmutation. As you can see, I failed," Ken confessed. "But you only lost your arm and leg, while Ed lost his leg, and I my whole body. Why is that?" Alphonse asked. "Well, I put twice the amount of ingredients I needed to for the transmutation, but I still failed, maybe that's why," Ken speculated. "But, you don't have any parents or siblings, why were you trying to transmute a human?" Ed asked this time. "I got lonely after I left you guys. So, I tried to create my own, custom human." Ken was pouring some orange juice into a cup, while Alphonse and Edward were just flinging questions on to him. "I remember something Winry told me once," Alphonse said suddenly. "She asked me, 'What sort of idiot would risk his own life to create a fake younger brother?', so I'm kind of wondering the same thing." Ken thought about it for a little while and smiled, "Well, I hadn't given that much thought back then."

"Hey, you guys are alchemists, right? How good have you gotten?" Ken tried to change the subject. "Uh...yeah, we've gotten pretty good; you want to have a contest?" Ed asked. He was confident that even Ken wouldn't be able to beat him at that. "Sure, let's give it a go," Ken grinned.

They went into the back yard again and Al drew a transmutation circle in a dirt plot. He placed his hands on it, and around thirty rock statues of different enemies they had faced popped out of the ground. Ed was up first. Since Ken already knew about the human transmutation, he thought it wouldn't hurt to show him what he could do. He clapped his hands, placed them on the ground, and giant stone fists sprouted from the ground, flinging the statues into the air. He ran back to the house and clapped again, placed them on the wall, and arrows flew out of the wall and stabbed most of the statues. Al repeated the transmutation. Now it was Ken's turn. He also clapped his hands, and placed them on the ground. Only this time, large stone blades came from the ground and pierced through every one of the statues. He didn't even have to transmue again, since the stone imitations crumbled wth the swords.

"Show off..." Ed mumbled to himself as Ken walked toward him. He was bested again. He was starting to wonder if there was anything that he _was_ better than Ken at. Ken laughed. "How about we go for some ice cream?"

"Brother, do you think we should try to head the town we were supposed to be at yesterday?" Al asked, trying to get Ed's mind off of the subject. "I suppose. We really should get back to our search for the Philosopher Stone. Hey Ken, We're gonna be headed north-west to a town, you want to come?" Ed asked. Ken replied, "Sure, I don't have anything better to do."

They were halfway there when Ken asked, "Hey, do you know of any good State Alchemists I could go to to look for a certain something?" "Sure, what are you looking for?" Al asked. "Uh, something called the Philosopher's Stone. You know anything about it?" Ken asked, unaware that Edward and Alphonse were searching for the same thing. "I'm the Fullmetal Alchemist. And we're looking for it to get our original bodies back. What do you want it for?" Ed asked, wondering why he was looking for it. "...I don't feel like talking about it right now. Anyway, at least I found someone who can help me. I've been searching for a while for someone, but all I ever found was a guy and his kid brother named Russell and Fletcher Tringum. They were pretty good alchemists studying something similar to the Philosopher's Stone that they called 'The Water of Life'," Ken stated. The brothers were amazed to hear that he had met Russell and Fletcher all the way in Xenotime. They snapped back into reality and started walking again.

They got there at about noon, and decided to get some lunch, so they went to a nearby restaurant and took a seat. "So, you were asking about why I wanted the Stone right? Here it is: I have reason to believe that there is a former State Alchemist on the loose. His name is Kimbley. I need the Philosopher's Stone to gain alchemical power enough to defeat and capture him. Have you ever heard his name?" Ken once again surprised them. "Um...isn't he the one responsible for the genocide in Ishbal?," Al asked. "Yeah, he is." All the while listening to Ken, Ed was looking at the ground. He looked up for a moment to see a few birds flying by, then looked back at the previous spot. But as he was looking down, he saw something gleam in Ken's pocket.

"Hey, Ken, What's that in your pocket?" Ed asked curiously. "Oh, this?" Ken asked as he took out a pocket watch, "Like you, I'm a State Alchemist, called the 'Element Alchemist'. I don't have a family, so I need the money to survive," Ken said. "Element...element...oh yeah! You're the one they say can 'Bring water during drought'! Why is that, by the way?" Ken laughed, "I'll answer that later as well."

After finishing their food, they went to a house down the street. They knocked, and a tall thin man came to the door. "Ah, it's nice to finally meet you, Fullmetal Alchemist," the man greeted them--but, like most everyone else, he shook Alphonse's hand instead of Ed's. "Uhm, I'm sorry sir, but I'm not Him...he is," Al stated...again. "Hmm? Ohh, him? My, my, I'm terribly sorry, but I was expecting someone a little taller, for such a stern alias as 'Fullmetal,'" he said. "You callin' me short?" Ed grumbled in anger at the man. "Oh my, no. I was just saying I wasn't expecting you to be so...well, yes," he said, smiling innocently, "Come, come in, you must be tired from your travels," He offered. Ken sauntered in, while Al kept Edward from lunging at the man. By this time, he was fuming and struggling in Al's grip. As he was doing so, people at the market stopped and stared, like always.

As they sat down, Ed had let off most of his fumes, and asked why the man had called them up. "Well, you see, I was hoping you could help me with a problem. There is a forest behind our yard. I have already built a tall fence, but, some how, there is something getting through it, and kidnapping young women from our village. If you could invesigate more on that, or possibly even capture the culprit, we would be most grateful," He explained. "We could try putting up a taller and stronger _stone_ wall. And maybe tonight, we could do a stake-out, to see if it still gets through, and follow it," Ken suggested before Ed or Al could speak. "Yes, yes, thank you, that would be very much appreciated," The man said. "oh! I'm terribly sorry. I've been rude. My name is Henry. Henry Jadsin," He said. "Elric. Edward Elric," Ed stated. "And I'm Alphonse Elric," Al said. "Ken," he said with just a wave of his hand. He didn't even open his eyes or look up.

Ed was still thinking about what Ken had told him. The 'Element Alchemist.' He couldn't believe Ken, of all people, was one of the best known state alchemists in Amestris. "Geez, I have a lot of catching up to do," he thought. "Hey, Ken, will you answer mw now??" Ed asked. "Hmm? Oh, that again? Uh...do I really have to explain it now? Maybe after we solve this case, that alright?" Ken asked, thinking it to be to troublesome to explain now. "Maaaan...you always were really lazy..." He complained, "Fine, fine. After, so we'd better get started. Hey Al! Come on, we're gonna make that wall now," Ed called.

As they approached the fence, they heard a rustling noise from within the forest. "What the hell was that?" Ed asked. "If I had to guess, it's either animals, or the thing kidnapping everyone," Ken said, "Anyway, let's get to that fence." Ed clapped his hands and transmuted a wall tall enough to keep even a squirrel from getting over it.

With that done, all there was to do was watch and wait...and wait some more...and some more...and just as Ed was falling asleep, there was a loud roar from the forest. "Hey, Ed, wake up, it's time." They ran to the back yard and found the wall to have a large hole in it. "Whoa...we're gonna need to fight pretty hard against something like that." Ed complained. "Al...we sure this isn't a trick? I mean, what can break through a _stone_ wall?!" They investigated more, and they found something by the wall on the other side. "Big Brother, what's this?" Al asked. "Footprints...but what made them?" As if to answer the question, they heard a roar from another house.

They ran around to the house, and there, standing in the yard, was a chimera clutching a young girl in its teeth, growling. "Hey!! Giant, furry bastard! Let go of her!" Ed yelled. "Ahh...it's probably best not to antagonize it..." whispered Ken as the chimera dropped the girl and turned around. "Crap, we gotta fight!"

The chimera charged at them, roaring. Ken jumped overhead, while Ed and Al dodged to the sides. They both ran at it, but the chimera span, knocking Al down and coming to meet Ed face to face. Then, blue light shone underneath it as four stone hands popped out of the ground and took hold of the chimeras feet. "Good work, now we just gotta get this kidnapper back to the old man..." complained Ed. "Well, that won't be as easy as it looks..." Ken said, "The chimera won't be held down much longer..." He was right. the chimera was struggling to get free. "...I'll...just knock it out..."Ken mumbled as he walked over and smacked it in the head with a transmuted stone mallet. "So, Al, you're strong enough, you think you'll be able to carry it?" asked Ken. "Sure, why not?" he groaned as he heaved the chimera onto his shoulders.

They hobbled over to the house and laid it at the doorstep. Ed knocked on the door and waited...and waited...and waited. "what the hell is taking him so long?!" he yelled. "Wow, I guess we spent more time on the mission than we thought..." Al said. He was looking at the horizon in the east. The sun was rising. A light shone suddenly from inbetween them. The chimera was glowing, and changing shape. "Old man?!! What the hell?!" Ed screamed. "C-c-can alchemy even DO that?!" Al studdered. "No...no it can't...I think his DNA may have been chemically altered...we'll ask him when he wakes up if he's been near any nuclear plants," Ken said. "Where do you come up with this stuff...?" Ed asked under his breath.

Henry woke up about fifty minutes later, clearly not knowing where he was. "Wh-why are you all looking at me like that? What happened?" he asked blankly. "...Sir, we have some news for you, but you have to tell us something first," Ken said calmly. "Ugh...yes, yes, alright, what do you need?" he asked. "Sir, have you been near any nuclear plantations lately?" Al asked. "Ngh...I have...about three months ago. a few days before the kidnapping began. Why? Are they connected somehow?" he asked, still not understanding. "Thank you, sir. The news we have to tell you isn't pretty, though..._you're_ the chimera that has been kidnapping all those girls," Ken said. _Although I didn't know that guy was such a pervert...kidnapping young girls at such old age... _"Anyway, sir, we need to find a way to keep you from changing at night." "I have no idea how that might be...how might I stop myself from changing into the chimera?" _He's taking this really well, though... _"I think I know how," Ed said with a sudden burst of enthusiasm, "If he changes at night, it means that the chemicals in his body react to the darkness. All we need is to keep the house light throughout the night." At this, Al got up. "How are we going to do that, Big Brother?" "Well...all we might need to do is get a bunch of candles and light them at dusk." "So it's settled, candles it is," Ed said, getting up with a grunt.

They got all the candles, and set them up around the house, and left. "Ah...we _might_ need to go back to Resembool..." Ken said. "Why's that?" Ed asked. "Well...my auto-mail's a little...faulty," he admitted. "What? It didn't look busted after we fought Gramps here!" Ed said, looking at Ken's arm. "Well...the wiring is just wearing down a bit," He said. "Yeah...that's happened to me once I think...oh yeah, it was when Winry forgot that bolt. I didn't notice it at first...and then all of the sudden it broke," Ed said with a shrug. "Alright, should we go now, or wait till tomorrow?" Ken asked. "We can go right after you tell me why they say that stuff about you, remember?" Ed eyed him closely. "I knew it would come to that eventually...okay, fine. Here." He took off his right glove. "Take a look at this."

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**A/N: **_Well, that the end of this chapter, be sure to R&R for me, alright?_


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